Page 100 of House of Lilith

“And itison a man?” I snap at her as she walks around the table to get away from me.

I throw daggers at her as she settles into the chair opposite me, making a point of neither replying to me nor throwing me another look.

Fine, I think to myself as I grab my phone. And I pull up an article I bookmarked recently, but I can’t make myself focus. They’re all getting on my nerves, Nikolay having his ego stroked, Hilde playing the self-righteous one, and His Hotness tapping his boot on the floor, making me have to fight not to look his way.

With a sigh, I exit the browser. It’s only then that I see a text popup. I frown. Sender? Nikolay’s Buddy. He has my number? My heart skips a beat, my thumb darting to press the little box.

“I see you’re back,” the text says, finishing with a grinning smiley face.

Quickly, I exit the chat and proceed to staring at the screen. What should I say? My eyes get drawn in his direction, seeing him immersed in a conversation with one of his own.

“I am,” I choose to type. And I hit send, but then I get the urge to add, “I was planning on texting you, it’s just a super busy day.”

Another press of the Send button. And then a moment of staring at the screen, not daring to look in his direction.

Just as I decide not to wait around for a reply, I see the three little dots that mean he’s typing. I hold my breath.

“Of course it is, Princess,” comes the reply.

Princess, it echoes in my head. For a second, I just stare at the message, images of Max, Mother, and the scorched expanse that is my future flitting through my mind.

Then there are the three little dots again. “Sorry about that, Romanov. Wasn’t intentional.”

My lips tug into a smile. Then I frown. Romanov again? “Don’t worry about it, Howe,” I rush to type, the letters failing to convey my tone when I write his last name. “You’re the snowflake, not me.”

“How witty you are,” comes the reply. “Anyway, I’d be happy to book an appointment if need be. Just point me in the right direction.”

My breath hitches when I realize what’s going on. I make myself snap out of it. “Those many servants you apparently think I have, I’ll tell one to reach out and ask if midnight would be too late.”

“She did,” he types back, making my eyebrows pull down. “She was shocked to find she had to go directly to me because, alas, I’ve no servants of my own, but she’s managed to work around this difficulty and now she’s on her way to confirm that I will indeed be free at midnight.”

I have to stifle a laugh. I look away a little so as not to be seen smiling. And what I want to write is, “You’re an idiot.” But what I do write is, “All's well that ends well.”

I press Send and keep looking at the screen, my eyes rounding in horror when I realize what I’ve just sent.

Come on, Nyx, I curse myself,Shakespeare? Really? As if he doesn’t already think you’re lame.

With the corner of my eye, I catch him checking the message, putting his phone down and going back to the conversation at the table.

I guess what’s done is done. Now I only need to live with it for the next… I throw a glance at my watch and I take a deep breath to try to fight off the desperation. Ten fucking hours.Whydid I suggest midnight?

But even as I bitch to myself, there’s a smile persistently tugging at the corners of my lips.

*

I spend the rest of the afternoon in class, absent but pleasantly so. And once the last bell of the day rings, at least for me, I grab my bag, dart out of C13 and head straight for the Library. As I go, I think of all the books I have access to again. Back home, at the Winter Palace at least, Father’s death also meant the neglect of the book collection. Mother’s pawned off most of it, and now there’s nothing of use there, at least when you’re researching a certain mysterious Vasilisa Romanov.

So it’s with a smile on my face that I enter the hall before the Library, thinking how, despite all my expectations, this is turning out to be a really good day.

Of course, it’s then that I spot him. Max, walking out of the Library with one of his sycophants at his tail. And they almost make me try to hide, the awkwardness and the mixed feelings at seeing him appear like that.

But he’s already spotted me and is walking straight in my direction with this indecipherable look in his eyes.

For a second, I feel myself starting to freeze.

Then I throw a quick nod in his direction and run into the Library.

Holy hell, I think to myself as soon as I find myself on the other side of the door with no signs of him trying to follow me. I breathe a sigh of relief and go straight for my favorite table, the one all the way to the left of the glass wall overlooking the cave.

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